Published: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 8:36 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 8:36 p.m.

The late Chester Allen "Chat" Jones was never one to draw attention to his good deeds, according to his younger brother.

"He's like me," Donnie Jones said. "He wouldn't want all the hoopla about it. He liked to keep things low-key. He'd probably say, ‘Let's spend that money on the kids, not on me.'"

Chat Jones' love for the young special-needs baseball players who compete at Jackson Park each spring and fall will be memorialized today by county commissioners. The board will officially name Fields 8 and 9 the Chat Jones Memorial Fields in honor of Jones' legacy of community service.

An official dedication and ribbon-cutting will likely occur next April, in concert with the first special-needs game of the 2013 season. The Hendersonville Kiwanis Club will install a plaque at the fields to commemorate Jones, a longtime club member and past president.

The 63-year-old Jones died Oct. 12 from accidental carbon dioxide poisoning while working on a car in his shop at Jones Auto Sales.

In a resolution, commissioners will pay tribute to the businessman known for his generosity and civic-mindedness. Donnie Jones said his brother was instrumental in getting the Kiwanis Club to be a "facilitating sponsor" for the special-needs baseball league, which began in 2011 with 40 players and now serves roughly 80 handicapped children from across the region.

With help from Trace & Co. and other donors, Chat Jones spearheaded a campaign to install swings for special-needs kids at several county parks, allowing even kids confined in wheelchairs to enjoy the sensation of wind in their hair.

Jones donated car seats to new mothers at local hospitals, diapers to teen moms at Balfour Education Center and used cars to those who couldn't afford them. Along with his friend Tom Orr, he created a program to simulate a walk down Main Street using historical and modern photographs.

"Chat truly cared for the individuals in our community and founded a number of services in order to help the less fortunate," the commissioners' resolution says.

In other business, commissioners are scheduled to approve financing of $413,539 for two new county ambulances and seven new manual defibrillators through First Citizens Bank. The bank's 1.25 percent interest rate offer beat out four other banks that bid on the four-year loan.

The new defibrillators will provide better patient care, said EMS Manager Mike Barnett, replacing outdated models that have had multiple problems over the past several months. If the loan is approved, the county's Emergency Medical Services team will replace two leased ambulances, whose contracts are due to expire next month, with two county-owned 2012 Chevrolet G4500s.

Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.

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